Alchemical Emblems, Occult Diagrams, and Memory Arts

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

The Department of Historical Studies at the University of Turin is issuing a call forpapers for a conference on “Apparitions and revolutions: The public use ofhierophanies in political and social transformations from late antiquity to contemporarytimes” to be held in Turin on 7-9 November 2018. The intent is to ascertain, in a verybroad geographical (Europe and elsewhere) and chronological context (Late Antiquity– the 20th century), if and how revolutions have been accompanied by hierophanicphenomena (Mariophanies, christophanies, hagiophanies...). In this case revolution isunderstood as any political, social, economic, cultural or religious transformation thathas profound and lasting consequences on the historical context in which it took place.Naturally, we do not intend to make a catalog of apparitions (individual or collective)associated with moments of rupture in the established order; rather, the idea is to drawon significant case studies to grasp the forms, times and dynamics characterizing thepublic use of hierophanies occurring in different geographic and political spaces. Withthis in mind, the conference welcomes contributions ranging from political andreligious history to cultural studies and the history of ways of thinking. Proposalsdisplaying particularly broad analytical approaches (in terms of both chronology andgeography) will be given priority.Proposals must be between 1,000 and 2,000 characters, to be presented in Italian,French, English or Spanish, and accompanied by the applicant’s CV; they will beassessed by the Scientific Committee. The texts of the articles for presentation at theconference must be submitted for publication by 31 January 2019, without exception.Expenses associated with participation in the conference are to be covered by theapplicants; upon request, the conference organizers reserve the right to possibly coveraccommodation costs for specifically junior researchers during their stay in Turin.The deadline for proposal submissions (please send to paolo.cozzo@unito.itwith the subject “Apparitions and revolutions”) is 31 December 2017.

Saturday, September 9, 2017

Tarot and Other Methods of DivinationAll Proposals & Abstracts Must Be Submitted Through The PCA Database.Please submit a proposal to only one area at a time. Exceptions and rules

CALL FOR PAPERS

The “Tarot and Other Methods of Divination” area is open to proposals for papers on a diverse range of divination methods: astrology, I Ching, runes, tarot, etc. Approaches may include the biographical, historical, and theoretical, as well as the analysis of professional practice and of representations in literature (poetry, prose, drama), visual art (painting, sculpture, tarot cards, comics, graphic novels), film, television, games, etc.

In addition, I am looking for participants in the following 2018 sessions:

Divination Themes in Literature.Note: Authors of papers that specifically address divination themes in mythopoeic literature are invited to submit their work to Mythlore.

“Spirit Communication: Facets and Fictions” Session participants are invited to share their research on tools and representations of tools in the arts (visual, literature, film, comics, etc.) that are used to facilitate communication with the spirit world for magical purposes, for contact with or information about the deceased, or other purposes. Such tools may be modern or historical and may include, but are not limited to, crystal balls, Ouija boards, pendulums, planchettes, mechanical devices, etc. Research focused on the materiality of three-dimensional tools and their functional and ritual operations in relation to the spirit realm is particularly welcome. Session proposal and chair: Cynthia Hogan, PhD, Ithaca College.

All conference participants should be prepared to present their work as scholarly research and/or for the benefit of an interested audience of academics.

Abstracts and proposals due no later than Oct. 1, 2017

Submissions should be made online at http://ncp.pcaaca.org. You can find detailed instructions for doing so here and should include your CV, short biography (100-150 words), and abstract (100-250 words).

For general information about the conference, see this website. I have also posted a frequently-asked-questions page on my website with additional recommendations pertinent to the area. Please feel free to contact me if you have other questions or would like to discuss your presentation.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

“The coincidence is not a trivial one. Of all modern men the engraver’s apprentice was to grow up the likest to Emanuel Swedenborg; already by constitutional temperament and endowment was so: in faculty for theosophic dreaming, for the seeing of visions while broad awake, and in matter of fact hold of spiritual things. To savant and to artist alike, while yet on earth, the Heavens were opened.” (Life of William Blake, Alexander Gilchrist, p. 15)

Philosophy in the west – especially in its English-speaking part – has been considered an isolated and private venture, with little influence upon the way in which societies conduct themselves: like Earth itself in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, its description hovers between “harmless” and “mostly harmless”. But is this really the case? Can we trace today’s ecological crisis to the philosophy (or philosophies) adopted consciously or unconsciously in recent centuries? Perhaps the errors embedded within it are now revealed as very far from harmless – in fact a flawed philosophy may be the most toxic thing known to humankind.

Deep ecology – the view that solutions to the ecological crisis are to be found in a radical revision of humankind’s understanding of itself, the world in which it lives, and their mutual relation – has much to be commended. Deep ecologists argue that superficial changes in patterns of consumption while we retain an underlying view that we are set apart as the active and rational rulers and consumers of an irrational and passive world of materiality will not solve our ecological crisis.

But if we are to reject an inadequate philosophical worldview, how are we to find a better and more truthful one? Can we find a philosophy from which a truly wide-ranging justice can emerge? Perhaps we must wipe the philosophical slate clean and start again from the very beginning, or perhaps we may find in neglected philosophies from our past the key to the righting of relations between ourselves and the rest of reality. This is a challenge we cannot ignore without the gravest consequences to ourselves and our fellow companions on Earth. But although the task is great, the rewards of success are also great: it may be that a philosophy which addresses the needs of deep ecology will also contribute to the solution of other more purely human problems which now press upon us.

This notice represents a call for papers and presentations on this theme from all those interested in the subject, from whatever background or discipline – academic and non-academic, specialist and non-specialist.

Abstracts should be no more than 300 words and should be sent to conference@prometheustrust.co.uk at the latest by Friday, 7 April 2017. Acceptance of these will be confirmed as quickly as possible.

Papers should be around 2500-3000 words or 20 minutes’ presentation (we usually allow a further 15-20 minutes for a question and answer session after each presentation).

Bookings should be received by us not later than Saturday, 29 April 2017.

The Trustees are delighted to announce that the Thomas Taylor Lecture will be given by Professor Kevin Corrigan. The keynote speaker is yet to be arranged.

The formal conference begins with a keynote address on the Friday evening (the 7th) but we hope to arrange a "round table" day on the Friday for those able to attend - and overnight accommodation will be available on the Thursday 6th. A round table day will, we hope, enable those who would like to make a contribution to the general discussion to do so without going through the process of producing a formal paper. Do write and tell us if this is of interest to you.

Saturday, October 15, 2016

A now common critique of the Western philosophical tradition is that it harbors an inherent sexism wherein “universal reason” is far from neutral but is, rather, positively viewed as masculine, setting itself over against the feminine domain of unreason, madness and mystery. Theorists like Genevieve Lloyd have argued that Greek modes of thought, particularly Pythagorean and Platonic, insofar as they appear to privilege identity over difference, the Limit over the Unlimited, the One over the Many, logos over pathos, the intelligible over the bodily, etc., all harbor and reinforce a gendered hierarchy. To be sure, the overall goal of this volume will be to examine whether or not the Greek worldview neatly falls within this “phallologocentric” tradition. Are there ways of thinking antiquity differently, namely, as a expounding and celebrating philosophies of difference and possibly complementary to feminism's concern with the overcoming of traditional and patriarchal metaphysics?

Despite the tradition of representing Greeks as a world of sober rationality, scholars like Dodds, Rohde, Onians, Vernant, and Detienne challenged this model by emphasizing the 'irrational' aspects of Ancient Greek thought and practice. For example, Parmenides, a philosopher who is lauded as the ‘father of logic’ expresses his philosophy in an esoteric poem that describes his experience in meeting a goddess. Socrates, in the Phaedrus, praises love as a kind of divine madness. In recent years, issues of gender in the Ancient Greek world are of crucial significance to our understanding of the culture of the time, providing necessary context for our reception of core philosophical texts. The work of feminist pioneers in classics, such as Nicole Loraux and Froma Zeitlin, has sparked a continuing discussion of how gender constructions in the Ancient Greek world shaped the philosophical ideas that continue to persist in our contemporary philosophical discussions.

We invite analyses on topics that engage with Greek philosophy, magic, mystery traditions in relationship to questioning the classical representations of gender, where it often falls on a neat binary in which the masculine is privileged. The final volume will be designed to reflect as many different topics as possible, including but not limited to: Pythagorean tradition, sacred geometry, Platonism, Neoplatonists such as Plotinus and Iamblichus, mystery traditions and rituals such as the Thesmophoria and other Ancient Greek festivals, Theurgy, The Eleusinian Mysteries, Dionysian practices, divination, curse tablets, sorcery, Orphic traditions, Presocratics such as Heraclitus, Parmenides, and Empedocles, Hekate, and the magical papyri.